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Magical Night Sees Future Hall of Famer Finishes Career In Pasco
September 5, 2062 | Pasco > The next stop for Angel Gonzalez is going to be the BBA Hall of Fame. That much is sure. The man had already hit 514 homers in the bigs, and registered a career .211/.352/.521 slash, which when paired with a solid glove back in the day was good enough to tally 98 WAR over a career that began back in Vancouver back 2039 and ran through four other franchises (as well as a return stint with the Mounties.
At age 42, however, the Vancouver club released him from their Victoria AAA franchise. Baseball seemed finished with Angel Gonzalez, but Angel Gonzalez was not finished with baseball. He signed a deal with Bikini to mentor kids and to hit with Pasco down in AAA. It was not a particularly successful stint, as his age showed in the .269 batting average he made on 119 AB.
But tonight, for one night, the baseball world was again Angel Gonzalez's.
Leading off the final game of the season, Gonzalez took a strike and a ball, as well as fouled off a pair of pitches from RHP Dmitr Zhivlyuk, who is another story of player persistence. But on this night, a night with clear skies that showed stars in the darkness and with the wind blowing in from left, future Hall of Famer Angel Gonzalez stepped into the batter's box and with 13,741 people watching, and timed a Dmitr Zhivlyuk fastball well enough to launch a 370 foot blast that easily cleared the fence in deepest right field.
"I worried it might not stay fair," Gonzalez said afterward.
But he need not have worried.
A day later Angel Gonzalez would announce his official retirement from baseball, proving again that no man is immortal. But, on this night, the last night of his career, as Gonzalez rounded the bases and doffed his cap to fans who stood and cheered one more time, magic filled the air and for that moment it felt like the world may well have stood still.
Bon voyage, our friend.
Enjoy induction day.
September 5, 2062 | Pasco > The next stop for Angel Gonzalez is going to be the BBA Hall of Fame. That much is sure. The man had already hit 514 homers in the bigs, and registered a career .211/.352/.521 slash, which when paired with a solid glove back in the day was good enough to tally 98 WAR over a career that began back in Vancouver back 2039 and ran through four other franchises (as well as a return stint with the Mounties.
At age 42, however, the Vancouver club released him from their Victoria AAA franchise. Baseball seemed finished with Angel Gonzalez, but Angel Gonzalez was not finished with baseball. He signed a deal with Bikini to mentor kids and to hit with Pasco down in AAA. It was not a particularly successful stint, as his age showed in the .269 batting average he made on 119 AB.
But tonight, for one night, the baseball world was again Angel Gonzalez's.
Leading off the final game of the season, Gonzalez took a strike and a ball, as well as fouled off a pair of pitches from RHP Dmitr Zhivlyuk, who is another story of player persistence. But on this night, a night with clear skies that showed stars in the darkness and with the wind blowing in from left, future Hall of Famer Angel Gonzalez stepped into the batter's box and with 13,741 people watching, and timed a Dmitr Zhivlyuk fastball well enough to launch a 370 foot blast that easily cleared the fence in deepest right field.
"I worried it might not stay fair," Gonzalez said afterward.
But he need not have worried.
A day later Angel Gonzalez would announce his official retirement from baseball, proving again that no man is immortal. But, on this night, the last night of his career, as Gonzalez rounded the bases and doffed his cap to fans who stood and cheered one more time, magic filled the air and for that moment it felt like the world may well have stood still.
Bon voyage, our friend.
Enjoy induction day.